They called them spider holes but they should’ve called them early graves. The scorpions, the rats… he imagined them clawing at his skin, tearing him apart as the Viet Cong approached like their own kind of insect, burrowing endlessly through the network of tunnels beneath Vietnam.… More
600 Whiskers
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Riley WinchesterYou can be tall or short; you can be heavy or thin; you can have long hair or short hair or black hair or blonde or purple; you can have freckles or rosacea or clear skin; but none of this will matter if you have a mustache. The mustache becomes you.… More
The Mayor of Ezekiel Gets Shitshape for Christmas
FLASH FICTION by Mike ItayaThe day before Christmas I was shitshape on the Ezekiel Docks, down by the Nutria Nugget Riverboat. My ex-babydoll, Ms. Wanda, was onboard. I was not.… More
The Jim Jones Review
FICTION by Kanako OkironThe two shots were exactly how the newscasters described it that day. There was no sequence of one following the other, nor a riveting minutia whence bullets rang out proper. It just was.… More
Racing Stripes
FICTION by Don FosterI don’t take offense because I don’t remember my mother, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because Brandon weighs about two of me, and I’m not much of a scrapper. I pop the tab and take a long pull. I drag my forearm across my top lip. “Just because Taco Bell has a breakfast menu,” I tell him, “doesn’t mean you should take advantage of it.”… More
Left With You
FLASH FICTION by Tom RothMaybe everyone had their own kind of moon in them. Full ones and halves. Slivers and curves.… More
Marriage
FICTION by Mark RogersIt’s a quiet moment in Mexico. There are always a few such moments of total silence dispersed throughout the afternoon. Other times it’s the sound of the water pump grinding into action, or snatches of banda music, children’s voices. One thing after another. But it’s quiet right now—uncomfortably so.… More
To Term
FLASH FICTION by Annabelle TaghiniaMary, in apartment 331, has woken up larger, wonders if her new keto diet is backfiring. Adam, in 340, asks if it is normal for his twelve-year-old to experience bloating and cramps with no blood. Louise, in 119, says she must’ve blacked out hard on sleeping pills, because she peed on a stick this morning and the double lines appeared.… More
Another Way To Be
FICTION by Harrison KimArno thought this cannot go on forever, it’s our fourth date and she seems happy, though the sun is hot on the back of my neck. So he strengthened his willpower, kept things steady, despite the traffic distractions and her weight. They looked into each other’s eyes and Mandy asked, “Am I too heavy?”… More
Natural Selection
FICTION by Shannon ShreibakI don’t usually hitch a ride with strangers, especially ones I’m about to allow inside me. But the right combination of sleeplessness and alcohol can persuade me to make some compromises, and tonight, I’m feeling particularly weak-willed.… More
Mackenzie
FLASH FICTION by JT Peifer“You like sheep?” A smile cracked through the dried blood on Sam’s face. Mac grinned. “My truck’s only certified for liquid effluvia, mate.”… More
